To the Far North of India

Indians playing in snow Rotang Pass

View up Chandra valley

With the Far North of India and mythical Ladakh and contested Kashmir beckoning, we set off through the tourist city of Manali for the Rotang Pass, only to find we arrived on the Tuesday, the one day of the week it is closed for maintenance. After a very relaxing camp in the mountains we joined the long stream of vehicles heading up the pass, where the permanent snow at the top attracts thousands of Indians in hired snow suits to play. I guess snow is a novelty for most of them. Once over the pass the road becomes virtually deserted with fantastic views up the Chandra River towards the lake, just 35kms away where we camped a week previously.

Keylang

Ladakh is centred around the Indus valley and is pretty much cut off from the rest of India by 6000m mountains to the south, and higher mountains to the north, making access only possible by road for a few months in the summer. The road climbs steep sided valleys to cross several passes over 5000m, some where deep snow has been cleared to allow vehicles to pass. The most common vehicle we encountered were tankers carrying petrol and diesel, presumably to build stocks for the winter, and to ensure sufficient supplies for the large military presence engaged in the conflict with Pakistan in Kashmir.

Remains of the winters' heavy snowfall

For miles over the tops the landscape is deserted until the road drops dramatically down through deep valleys and gorges to drop into the beautiful Indus valley and Ladakh - "the land of Stupas". The phrase, painted on roadside rocks, was verified by the numerous stupas, some crumbling mud brick constructions, some beautifully maintained and painted, with particularly large numbers set round monasteries and gompas.

One of the high passes

Chemre Gompa

Young Ladakhi locals

Indus river, swollen with meltwater from the unusually heavy snowfall of the last winter, is a muddy grey colour, and will become a feature of our travels for several weeks to come. The valley hosts a huge military presence with numerous army camps, and bizzarely numerous Buddhist monasteries interspersed along the best road we have travelled for many weeks. The main town and capital of Ladakh is Leh, set around several monasteries and a palace set on a high promontory, which has become a major tourist centre for exploring the beautiful valleys around, and enabling us to restock our food supplies, and apply for the necessary Inner Line permits to allow us to travel closer to the China border to the north.

Two extraordinary roads head north from Leh, one crossing the Changla pass at 17,688ft to the beautiful and serene Pangong Lake, the other over the Khardung La Pass, at 17,982 ft one of the highest motorable passes in the world, both which leave you breathless in every sense of the word.

Beautiful serene Pangong Lake

Extraordinary colours of Pangong

Pangong Lake, set amongst arid mountains provides an ever changing set of extraordinary colours, from greens to deep blues, all set against the creams, browns and ochres of the surrounding snow capped mountains, truly beautiful. A few small villages, which must be cut off for many months of the year survive on small irrigated fields and a few animals, and each have their own small Buddhist temple. The Lake extends well into Tibet, and we even picnicked at the other end three years previously. The road is currently being improved, but as with many which are being reconstructed is in a terrible state at present, making journey times very long.

Yaks waiting for tourists

View from Khardung La Pass

Ladakh - land of stupas

Nubra valley

Crossing the KhardungLa pass a couple of days later there were long delays as a snow avalanche had blocked the road, and only a single narrow passage had been dug through, which was filled with around 2ft of water. Consequently some cars and motorcycles were cautious about crossing, and a traffic jam developed. The Nubra valley to the north is very different to the others, with the scale difficult to take in. The gravel covered flat bottom of the valley is several kms wide and surrounded by snow capped peaks. Wherever snowmelt streams run down side valleys, small farming communities have sprung up with complex irrigation systems to feed their terraced fields and orchards. Unexpected sand dunes cover part of the valley bottom, and crumbling stupas surround some of the monasteries. We were prevented from driving along one of the roads in the afternoon as the high snowmelt had flooded some of the roads, and even the local buses were stopping and people having to wade across to reach their homes. Large rocks were dropped on the roads by the water, such a difference from the lower flows in the mornings.

Leh Local selling peas

Leh butchers shop

Back in the Indus Valley our route took us west through the very arid landscape, again interspersed with green irrigated areas around villages where side rivers come down to the Indus. At Alchi a fascinating old monastery has been maintained with extraordinary detailed 1000 year old murals on the walls, depicting buddah and scenes of local life. Leaving the Indus the road climbs over a couple of passes then drops into the amazingly green and fertile Wakka valley, a refreshing change from the dry barren landscapes of the last couple of weeks. A 2000 year old buddah at Mulbekh Monastery, carved into a rock face is a site of pilgrimage, and has an old temple nestled round its base.

Alchi Monastery

Looking for somewhere to camp we took a couple of small side roads which wound through incredible narrow gorges to tiny communities on the higher slopes. Some of the roads are amazing, the amount of rock removal and the twisting routes they have had to take to reach some of the communities are extraordinary, and pass through stunning scenery.

side road canyon

Passing Kargil, just a few kms from the Pakistan border, but one westerners cannot cross, we headed south towards mythical Srinigar, crossing another high pass, and descending an almost vertical rock face where the road is being improved as two single carriageways cut into the rock face, and dropping several hundred metres to the valley floor.

2000 year old rock cut buddah at Mulbekh Monastery

Mughal Gardens - Srinigar

Srinigar is a huge town, but is famous as a summer retreat for the Raj, and is set around what was a beautiful half moon shaped lake, nestling under the mountains. Rows of fixed house boats now greet the visitor with touts trying to sell space on them. Away from the town centre on the lake shore under the mountains are several beautiful Mhugal gardens, some of which are beautifully maintained with flower beds and flowing water. On a hot weekend day, these become cooling off places for many visitors. July is a month of religious fervour in Jammu, and when we tried to head south from Srinigar in the afternoon, were initially told we could not go and had to wait till the following day. Fortunately the police on an alternative route were more relaxed, but as we drove south and started to climb to a pass, we encountered 30kms of trucks all parked by the road waiting to go up. We were waved past them all.

After a short overnight stop in Amritsar, which we will visit on the way back we headed to the Pakistan border.

 

 

sheep and goats - a driving hazard

 

 

Majestic soaring Himalayan vulture